Simple Design
by SheeWolf85
Summary: Outtakes of Jake and Leah's relationship pre-Give Me a Sign. First will start with how they meet. Rated M for language, violence, and lemons. Not necessary to read GMAS, but I highly recommend it.
1. Violence Fetish

A/N: Welcome! This story is an outtake of sorts from my multi-chapter story Give Me a Sign. It is Jake and Leah's relationship, and begins three years prior to the beginning of that story. I don't think it's necessary to read Give Me a Sign, however it will help a lot if you do. Some details may be confusing otherwise.

For those of you expecting the Jacob you met in Give Me a Sign, watch out. He goes through a lot of changes, and yes, he's an asshole. You may not like him very much throughout this oneshot. I hope you like the story regardless, and kind of come to understand why he is the way he is at this point. Leah herself is maybe not what you would expect after seeing her in Give Me a Sign. I'm planning on there being four parts.

The title of this story, Simple Design, is a song by none other than Breaking Benjamin. The song will be used for one of the oneshots, but I thought the title and song fit Jake and Leah's story so well.

I still have very little experience with bipolar disorder; however, I do have experience with diabetes. I personally am not diabetic, but both my grandmother and grandfather died from complications with diabetes, following almost the same events that I've written for Billy. It's not a pretty process, and I don't intend to sugar-coat anything. For those of you who have seen what it can do, you know what I'm talking about.

Be forewarned about the sex, cuz there are some serious lemons in this oneshot. Jake's not in a very good place mentally.

So there you go! Enjoy. I don't own it.

* * *

><p><span>Simple Design<span>

The Story of Jake and Leah

Part One

Violence Fetish

_You are a time bomb ticking away  
>You need to release what you're feeling inside<br>Let out the beast that you're trying to hide  
>Step right up and be a part of the action<br>Get your game face on because it's time to play_

-Violence Fetish – Disturbed

* * *

><p><em><strong>Jacob<strong>_

It was too fucking hot to be working construction, even in April. Whoever thought scheduling a building project where we'd be working directly under the Phoenix sun in the summer was a good idea should be put through a goddamn meat grinder.

I got to the site late that day. My dad needed some help with his medicine, so I'd stayed to make sure he had what he needed. The foreman gave me a look, but didn't comment. I was glad, because I really didn't want to get fired. Or have to go back to a shrink. Instead of stopping to explain myself, I just went ahead and got ready to start working. The skeleton was pretty much done, and we had people on almost all levels finishing and fixing something or other.

Construction wasn't an easy job, and we had people coming and going all the time. We'd get a fresh face every few weeks, and sometimes they'd last, sometimes they'd be gone after only a few days. I usually didn't pay attention to the new kids unless they approached me, but it was almost impossible to keep from laughing when I saw a woman working out on the site. She was medium build with tanned skin and a round ass. Her black hair was pulled back in a pony tail as she laid brick on the ground floor. I'd be laying right along with her. I chuckled to myself and wondered how long she'd last. I'd never seen a woman at any site I'd ever worked at.

I didn't say anything as I walked over and started to spread the mortar. The woman stopped and looked at me.

"Excuse me, I was working there."

I didn't budge. "And now I am, too."

"I can do this, you know. I'm not helpless." She put the brick in her hand down a little harder than necessary. Probably to try to prove her point.

"Sure, sure. I'm not stopping you." I didn't stop; I just made sure I was doing it right.

She scoffed and continued what she'd been doing. "My name's Leah, by the way."

Of course she'd have to talk. "Jake."

She took a deep breath and sat back. "I've been doing construction pretty much since I was six years old. My dad's a contractor."

I grunted. I really didn't see why women had to tell their life story to whoever they worked with. I didn't care.

"You're kind of an ass, you know."

I laughed and sat back with her. "Yeah, I know. Now shut up and let me work."

Her brow furrowed. "I was here first. You want me to shut up; you move your ass somewhere else."

I clenched my fist and took a deep breath to keep from losing it on her. "Fuck off."

"You know, just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I don't have a right to be here. I can do this just—"

I turned, and it literally took everything in me to keep from hitting her. "It has nothing to do with you being a woman. Leave me the fuck alone."

I was supposed to be laying brick, but I really didn't give a fuck. I got up and went to find something I could break.

* * *

><p>I took my lunch break a little earlier than usual to call and make sure my dad was still doing okay. He said he was fine and asked how my day was. I told him about the girl on the site, and he told me to watch out for her. I rolled my eyes but said I would. When I hung up, I heard her tell one of the guys to back off. I looked over to see her standing there with Jack, Nathan, and Don. I sighed to myself and walked over to them.<p>

"What's a pretty girl like you doing in construction anyway?" Don said as he reached out to smack her ass. "Shouldn't you be walking' the streets?"

Jack laughed and caught her as she tried to get away from Don. "Maybe you should just come home with me?"

She pushed him away. "Get the fuck off me, asshole." She sounded like she was trying to be tough.

"Leave her alone," I said as I walked up to them.

Nathan laughed. "Jake wants her all for himself."

"Sure, whatever, now back the fuck off." I wasn't going to fight with them. Or so I told myself. Even if my dad hadn't made me promise, I couldn't let this chick get raped because I didn't stick my nose where it didn't belong. I knew Jack and Don well enough to know I couldn't put that past them.

The chick looked over at me, her brow furrowed. "I can take care of myself, thank you."

"Shut up and get out of here," I said.

She scoffed and put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me?"

I turned to her. "I said, shut up and get out of here. Unless you'd like me to leave you to the wolves."

She glanced at Jack once, and under her hard façade, it wasn't hard to tell she was a little nervous. She turned, muttering "whatever" under breath as she stalked off.

"Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Don asked. "The first chick on the site in ages, and you go and chase her away."

I shook my head. "Just leave her alone. She's not here for you to play with, got it?"

"What, are you fucking Superman now?" Jack pushed my shoulder, and it took everything in me to keep from hitting him. Instead, I pushed him back hard enough to knock him over, then I left. There was no point in staying there where I would only get more pissed off.

As I got ready to leave that day, the chick came up to me.

"Hi."

I didn't say anything back; I just pulled my shirt on.

"I, um . . . Thank you. For what happened earlier. I know I didn't seem very grateful at the time, but I do appreciate it."

I grunted and put my things up.

She sighed. "I'm trying to talk to you, you know. You could at least acknowledge that I'm here."

I groaned. "Fine. Hi."

"Why don't you like me? What the hell did I ever do you?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I don't like anyone."

"Well, then why did you help me? Why not just let me fend for myself if you don't give a shit, huh?"

I started to walk to my car, and she followed me. I stopped before I got in and turned to her. "Leave me the fuck alone."

She scoffed and put her hand on her hip. "You're an asshole, you know that?"

"News to me. Can I go now?" I really needed to get back to my dad.

"Sure, I guess. I'll see you tomorrow anyway." She seemed way too happy about that. I rolled my eyes and got in the car.

When I got home, I realized that I'd forgotten to take my meds. Figures. I helped my dad get his straightened out, but forgot all about mine. I walked in and took the damn pill, then went back to check on my dad. He was in bed reading, but looked up when I walked in.

"Hey, Son," he said with a smile. "How was work?"

I shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed. "Not bad."

"The woman still working there?"

I chuckled. "Yeah. Who knows how long she'll last, but she survived her first day."

His eyes mellowed in a way that told me he was thinking about Mom. "You know what your mother would have said?"

I sighed and shook my head. "No, Dad. What would she have said?"

He smirked. "She would have told you to take her under your wing. Make sure she doesn't have to quit because of other guys making it too hard on her."

That sure sounded like Mom. Always looking out for everyone. I patted Dad's shoulder and stood up. "Hungry?"

"Nah, I had some cheesecake not too long ago."

I gave him a look. "Dad, you know you're not supposed to have that much sugar. And where the hell did you get cheesecake?"

He shrugged. "I'm not going to make it much longer anyway. The neighbor lady brought it over earlier. I think she's got the hots for you." He raised his eyebrows.

My fists clenched and I leaned down to make him look at me. "Hello? Is my dad in there? Because this person who seems to have replaced him is an idiot. I kind of liked the other guy, and I want him to stick around as long as he can."

Dad smirked. "Oh, come on, Jake. I'm not going anywhere yet, and one slice of cheesecake isn't going to finish me off."

I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room. If he wanted to kill himself by not being more careful of what he ate, then whatever. Not like I could monitor his diet every fucking day.

The cheesecake was sitting in the fridge with a medium-sized piece cut out of it. A card was sitting on top of it, so I picked it up. It was one of those stupid 'how are you doing' cards signed by Nancy. She was cute, I guessed. If I was interested in having a girlfriend or getting laid, I might go after her. I had bigger things to worry about, though.

The next day at work, the chick came up to me almost as soon as I had my shirt off.

"Hi," she said. She almost looked relieved.

I raised my eyebrow and grabbed my tool belt. "Can I help you?"

"What? Oh . . . no. No, I'm good. I was just . . . I was getting something." She grabbed a hammer even though she already had one in her belt. I shook my head and walked past her.

She followed me. "This?" she gestured to the extra hammer. "This is just, you know, to ward off all of the other assholes."

I chuckled without humor. "It'll take more than threats, Lady." I didn't bother to look at her; I just wanted to get this day over with.

"My name's not 'Lady.' It's Leah."

"Whatever. Do you really think I give a fuck?"

"Damn, you _are_ an asshole."

I finally turned to look at her. "What's it to you?"

She huffed. "It's nothing to me. Forget it."

She stalked off to do whatever it was she was supposed to be doing. Thank God. The peace didn't last too long, though. All too soon, the damn woman was getting into it with Trevor, the foreman. From what I could hear, he didn't like the work she was doing, and she was trying to convince him it was fine. I told myself to drop it; it wasn't any of my business. I could just hear my mother telling me to keep an eye on the annoying witch. I sighed to myself and made my way over.

"Jake!" Leah said as she saw me approaching. Dammit. "How long have you been in construction?"

Don't answer. "Six years." Fuck it all.

"And what about you?" she asked the foreman. Damn she had some balls.

"Two years." He almost looked a little ashamed.

"My dad's a contractor; I've grown up around all this shit. I know what's up to code, and this is up to code. Jacob, tell the man this is up to code." She pointed to the bricks she'd just laid down.

"I can't see anything wrong with them." I had a feeling the foreman was just pitching a fit because he had to work with a woman.

"The mortar's all wrong," Trevor said.

I walked to the mixer and checked the mortar. It was damn near perfect. "You make this?" I asked the witch.

She nodded proudly. "Yes, I did. Exactly the way my dad taught me."

Trevor smiled smugly until I burst his bubble. "This is better than mine, and I've been making it for five damn years. You want to check the work again before you tell her it's shit?"

His smile turned into a frown. "The bricks are uneven."

I rolled my eyes. "Fuck off, man. She's doing fine."

"Don't tell me what to do. I'm the foreman; I can have one or both of you fired."

So we had a power-tripping asshole on our hands. "Okay, let's take this up to Erik, the damn contractor. He's a good friend of Adam, right? Adam and I go way back; I'm sure he'd like to hear from me. You, on the other hand, might not have a job." I had no idea if the contractor really did know Adam or not, but it worked anyway.

Trevor looked a little fumbled for a second. "Well, let me take a look again." He checked everything one more time before he said it was fine. "Get back to work."

He was obviously sour about it, but I didn't care. I tried to walk off and leave it alone, but of course the woman wouldn't let me.

"Thanks again," she said. "That's twice you've saved me."

I scoffed. "Whatever. You could have handled him on your own."

"Damn right I could have. But I appreciate your help anyway."

I didn't say anything back as I walked away.

* * *

><p>"So have you heard the rumor?" Leah asked a week later as we got ready to leave. Despite every single attempt I'd made at getting her to leave me alone, she wouldn't do it.<p>

"Do I really care?"

"You might. I don't know. Everyone says we're fucking."

"Mm. Nice for them."

"You want to?"

I looked up and met her eyes. "What?"

"I'm asking you if you want to fuck me."

I furrowed my brow. "I'm not looking for a relationship."

She crossed her arms. "I didn't say date. I said fuck."

"And what happens when I'm still an asshole after I fuck you?"

She shrugged. "It won't matter, because it's no strings attached."

"Yeah. I've heard that before."

"Seriously, Jacob. You could use a night of good sex. And you're kind of cute."

I shook my head. "No. I could use a night of awesome sex."

She smiled and leaned against the tool shed wall. "Well, then. Looks like you found what you need." She raised her eyebrows and bit her lower lip. I let my eyes rake over her body. She was nice looking, that was for sure. Nice tits, fucking sexy as hell ass. If I let myself see her like that.

I sighed. "Okay."

"Your place or mine?"

"I need to check on my dad first, then your place. Need a ride?"

Her brow furrowed. "Yeah. Why check on your dad? What's wrong with him?" She said it with a joking tone, like she really wanted to add something condescending on the end of her question. She was damn lucky she hadn't, or this little fuck-fest she had planned wouldn't happen. Woman or not, no one would get away with making fun of my old man.

I answered as we walked to my car. "He's diabetic, and his kidneys are failing."

She sobered up immediately, and I could see the remorse plain as day on her face. "Oh, my God. Jacob, I'm sorry."

I shrugged and got in the car. "Don't worry about it."

"No, I'm serious. I'm sorry. I was very insensitive—"

"Just shut the fuck up, will you? You want me to fuck you; you better learn to shut your damn mouth."

"Why? I can suck your dick better with my mouth open."

I smirked. "At least you won't be able to talk. Just don't choke."

"Cocky, aren't we?"

I cast her a sideways glance. "Very _cock_-y."

She rolled her eyes with a smirk, but didn't say anything.

I pulled into my driveway and parked the car. "Stay here. I'll be right back." She nodded, and I got out of the car.

The house was quiet, as it usually was. I walked in my dad's room to check on him and found him sleeping. I sat on the edge of the bed and shook him a little. I couldn't leave without making sure he was okay. Call me paranoid, there were just too many things that could go wrong.

"Hey, Dad," I said when he didn't wake at first. I shook him a little harder, but there was still no response. I furrowed my brow and patted his cheek. That usually got him up. His eyes fluttered, but they didn't open. I leaned over him to check his breathing and was relieved to feel him exhale. Still, I didn't like that he wasn't waking up.

"Come on, Dad, wake up." I shook him again with no result. "Fucking hell." I grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard. "Wake the fuck up, Dad. This isn't funny anymore."

Still no response. "Motherfucking son of a goddamn bitch!" I got up and grabbed the phone to call for an ambulance. Even I wasn't stupid enough to try to move him on my own. Once I had the paramedics on their way, I went out to tell Leah what was going on.

She got out of the car before I even made it halfway down the driveway. "Is everything okay?"

"No, everything's not fucking okay. He won't wake up. I'll take you home after the ambulance gets here."

"Oh my God, Jacob, that's terrible."

Her pity sounded sincere, but I hated it all the same. "Yes, it's fucking terrible," I yelled. "It's awful and you feel sorry for me and all that bullshit. Fuck off."

I stalked into the house and thought about making her walk home. She followed me, and I damn near lost it. I turned around and pinned her against the wall, my hand on her throat. "Did I say you could come in my house?" I demanded.

She looked up at me with wide, scared eyes. "I'm—I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it, I just . . . I'm sorry. I'll leave."

She tried to push away from me, but something in the way I had her broke something loose inside me. Instead of letting her go, I leaned down and kissed her. It was harsh and angry and nothing like what a first kiss should have been, but it felt so fucking right. She opened her mouth, and I shoved my tongue in without waiting for her. She tasted like cinnamon. I groaned and resituated my hold on her to put my knee between her legs and pin her arms above her head. She moaned and moved her hips against my thigh a few times.

The distant sound of sirens reminded me of what was going on. What the fuck was I doing? I pulled back from her and shook my head. "Stay if you want. I don't care." I walked away to make sure I was in my dad's room when the paramedics came in.

They checked his vitals and got an IV started, then loaded him into the truck. On my way out the door, I grabbed Leah's arm and took her with me. "I'll drop you off at home," I said as I opened the car door for her.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

That surprised me. "Why the fuck would you want to come with me?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I know how it feels to have to rush to the hospital after someone you love."

She didn't sound upset or condescending in any way; she honestly sounded concerned. I sighed. "If you want to come, I won't stop you."

She nodded and got in the car. "Does your dad have seizures?" she asked as I drove.

I glanced at her, confused. "No, why?"

"I saw the seizure medication on the counter and was curious. My brother used to have them all the time."

"Dammit, you just can't keep your nose out of other people's shit, can you? The medicine sitting on _my_ counter is _my_ business, and _you_ will leave it all the fuck alone, got it?"

She nodded quietly and didn't say another word. After a few minutes, I started to feel a little bad for snapping at her like that. "It's mine."

"What?"

"It's my medicine. I don't have seizures; I'm bipolar."

"Oh. I see."

I was surprised she didn't act all sorry for me again. I appreciated it, though. Once in hospital with my dad set up, Leah sat beside me in the room. It felt strange having someone I barely knew there, but at the same time it was nice to know I wasn't alone. After about an hour of silence, only the occasional nurse coming to check on Dad, I decided to speak.

"You said you knew how it feels. What happened?"

She cleared her throat. "My brother. The one with the seizures. There were a few times he had to be rushed in because the medicine stopped working or he had a really bad episode."

I nodded. "How's he doing now?"

She glanced at me. "He died when I was in fifth grade."

I knew she was expecting the same old lines. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that" and all that bullshit. I didn't say it. I reached out and took her hand. She squeezed my fingers and looked at me again.

"How long has your dad been . . . sick?"

"Three years. Well, he's been diabetic for about twenty years, but it got bad three years ago." A part of me wondered why I didn't mind telling her.

"And how long have you been bipolar?"

Now that was just a stupid question. "How long have you been annoyingly curious?"

She smiled. "Forever. You can tell me to butt out; I'm just trying to help."

"Help how? By pissing me off?" I took my hand from hers and leaned forward on the chair. I told myself to calm down, but it wasn't easy.

She put her hand on my shoulder. "I wasn't trying to upset you."

I took a deep breath and changed the subject. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Twenty-one. You?"

"Twenty-three. You said your dad's a contractor. Why aren't you working for him?"

"Long story short, he's being an asshole and won't let me. He says I'll just get babied and favored, and he wants me to learn what construction is really all about before he'll consider letting me in on the company. So I'm out here trying to prove to everyone in the world that I can do the damn work."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I'm convinced."

She sat up straight and looked at me. "Wait a second. Did I just hear you say something nice?"

I chuckled, but any trace of humor was washed away when the doctor came in.

"Still not awake?" he asked as he looked my dad over.

I stood up. "No, he's not. What the fuck is going on?"

"I'm going to ask you to tone down your language. This is your dad, correct?"

I didn't like the fucker already. "Yes, he's my dad. What's going on with him?"

"If you'd been monitoring his blood sugar, you'd have seen that it's well over eight hundred. Your dad has gone into what is called diabetic ketoacidosis. Basically what happens—"

"I know what the fuck DKA is, asshole. I've been monitoring his damn blood sugar; it was ninety-three when I went to work today."

"Do I need to ask you to leave?"

Motherfucking asshole might try to sound tough, but he was hiding behind his fucking clipboard like a goddamn sissy. "Do I need to kick your fucking teeth out?"

"Jacob, stop it." I looked over at Leah, and she stood up to put herself in front of me. "Stop it and think about your dad. You want him to get better, right? You need the doctor to be able to do that. You can't kill him."

I started to calm down a little. She had a point. Kind of. There were other doctors around. I glared at the brown-haired son of a bitch. "Fix him."

"We're working on—"

"Admit him and fix the damn problem, _Doctor_."

"Jacob," Leah warned. She held my arm, and I pulled free of her.

"As I said, we're working on it." The doctor damn near squeaked when he spoke. He checked my dad over once, then left the room.

I moved to the side of the bed and looked down at Dad's unconscious face. I'd checked on him during my lunch, and he'd said he was fine. I hadn't asked him if he'd checked his blood sugar. I should have. I usually did, but I didn't that time. Leah put her hand on my arm, and I jerked away.

"Get off me," I grunted.

"Jake, stop this. Come here."

"Leave me alone."

She shook her head. "Nope. You're stuck with me. Now come here and let me hug you."

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me down. I didn't want to, but I figured I could give her what she wanted for a few seconds, then she'd leave me the hell alone. I was caught off-guard by just how good it felt to hold her tightly in my arms. She was warm and soft, but at the same time strong and not at all breakable. Bendable, maybe. I leaned my head down into her neck and sucked in a deep breath. She smelled like cinnamon, too. I hadn't ever noticed it before, but she did.

"It'll be okay," she said softly as she rubbed my back. "He's going to be fine."

A rush of something so deep within me came to the surface, and I tried to beat it back down. I didn't want to get emotional here. Not this kind. It wouldn't be stopped, though, and I hated myself as I felt my eyes water. I squeezed them shut and took another deep breath.

"Do you have anyone else in your life, Jake? Anyone you can talk to?"

I felt like such a damn tool when I sniffled. "No."

"No sisters or brothers? What about your mother?"

I shook my head. "I was an only child, and my mother died when I was seven." My voice was thick. I held her tighter and shoved my face back into her neck.

"Well, I'm here. I'm here, and I won't go anywhere. You can talk to me."

"Don't go all mushy on me, Leah. I don't think I can handle it right now."

She laughed, but didn't pull back. "Too late. I'll just hug you until you're ready to let go."

I didn't want to release her. I knew I should; I should suck it all up and be strong for my dad. He'd been strong for me for so many damn years; he deserved a son who could hold it together no matter what was going on. All the same, Leah's comfort felt too damn good to let go of yet.

I hugged for at least fifteen minutes, until a nurse came in to check Dad's vitals. I pulled away and wiped my eyes, pretending there was something in them. The nurse didn't say anything; she cast me a few wary glances as she did her work, then she fled as though something was chasing her. I sighed and sat down again. Leah sat beside me and patted my hand.

"Don't worry about the nurses or the doctor; they can't even comprehend what you must be going through."

I huffed. "For once, I'd like them to see things from my point of view. Or even Dad's. He's close to a goddamn diabetic coma, and does anyone care? Not likely."

"Yeah. I remember that with my brother. Always trying to fight with the medical system to get things done. I was young, but I still remember thinking this one doctor was such an idiot because he wouldn't admit my brother. He kept him in the ER overnight for observation. When the doctor for the morning shift took over, that's when he was admitted."

"I can only pray they admit him soon. If they don't, I'll have to choke someone."

She smiled. "I'll help, if you want me to."

I raised my eyebrow. "You want to help me kill people?"

"Could be fun," she said with a shrug.

He was finally admitted four hours later. I stayed with him for two hours after he was settled in his room to see if he'd wake up. He still hadn't by the time I had to take Leah home. She navigated the way, but other than her speaking for directions, the ride was quiet. When I got to her house, I pulled into the driveway.

"Don't you have a car?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't like to drive. I take the bus usually. Thank you for the ride, though."

I nodded. "I'm not coming in."

She put her hand on my shoulder. "I didn't think you would. I understand you want to get back to your dad. Our plans can work out some other time."

I smirked and reached across the console to give her a quick hug. "Sure." There was a brief moment of awkward silence after we both pulled back. "Uh . . . thanks. I guess. For coming with me."

"You're welcome. I meant what I said, about always being here for you. Do you want my number? You can call me anytime."

I smirked and nodded. "Sure." We exchanged numbers, and I went back to my dad alone.

I spent the night at the hospital. He was conscious by the time I woke up the next morning.

"Well, hello there," he said with a smile when I opened my eyes. "Look who's awake."

I sat up on the uncomfortable recliner and smiled. "Speak for yourself, old man. You had me going. How you feeling?"

He shrugged and picked up the yogurt he had on the tray table. "Oh, I'm okay. My sugars got a little out of whack, I guess."

"A little? Did they tell you how high your blood sugar was when you came in the hospital?" I got up and double checked all of his machinery. I'd been in a damn hospital so many fucking times I could probably work the things myself. I knew what was normal, and all of his vitals were fine.

"Yep, 982 when I was brought in, and 879 when I was admitted."

He sounded way too happy for it to be unexpected. "And this doesn't concern you why?"

He sighed. "Jacob, sit back down. It doesn't concern me because what happens, happens. There's not a damn thing I can do about it other than take my medicine and try my best to keep on top of it. You're a great help, Son, and I appreciate it, but there's only so much you can do. You're not a superhero; you can't save everyone."

I rolled my eyes. "I can at least keep you from croaking before your time. Did you check your sugars yesterday before you ate lunch?"

"Yes, of course I did. They were 370, so I took some insulin and ate a salad."

I didn't understand how a salad could raise his blood sugar to such a high level in such a short amount of time. I hated to think that it was just a freak occurrence thanks to his stage of kidney failure, but it very well could have been.

"You should go to work," Dad said a few minutes later. "It's only eight o'clock; you're not that late."

I shook my head. "Not going to work today, Dad. I already called. I'll go back tomorrow, don't worry."

He hummed and finished his yogurt, but didn't say much else about it.

The rest of the day went by fine. I talked to Dad about what had happened, and he said he was sad he missed meeting Leah. He made me promise to bring her over someday and at least let him say hi. I didn't want to, but I couldn't deny the man anything. When I took my lunch at work the next day, Leah asked me how my dad was.

"He's fine. He's awake now and should be able to go home either tonight or tomorrow."

"That's good."

"He, uh, said he wants to meet you." I kind of hoped she'd say something like hell no.

To my dismay, she smiled. "That's sweet. I'd like to meet him, too."

I groaned. "No, it's not sweet. He's going to assume we're dating because you went with me, then he'll start going on about grandchildren. I don't think I can handle _that_ talk again."

She laughed and patted my arm. "Don't worry, Jake. Just introduce me as the floozy you're fucking."

I leaned against the scaffolding and crossed my arms. "You don't know my dad. That'll get my ass kicked."

"Ah, he's the old-fashioned type, huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah. You even think about kissing a girl, and you damn well better be prepared to marry her."

She smiled. "Well, in that case, just introduce me as your friend. I'll make sure he doesn't think anything is going on."

I raised my eyebrow. "Again, you don't know my dad. Doesn't matter if nothing's going on; you're a woman that hasn't run screaming from me yet. In his eyes, that makes you a potential mother to my children."

"There's just no winning with him, is there?" She mirrored my position against the metal skeleton.

"No, not really. I'll take you to meet him if you want, just be prepared for him to try to sell you the position as my wife." I knew why he was so adamant about me getting married and having kids. He wanted to see some grandkids before he died. At one point, I couldn't really blame him. At another, I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't sure I'd ever be ready for that. I wasn't husband or father material.

"I'm sure I can handle that. My dad bugs me about getting married, too. He wants me to find someone worthy of taking over the company because he doesn't think I am. No matter how many times I tell him I'm never getting married or having kids, he won't drop it."

I took more breaks than usual to check on my dad. The foreman didn't like it, but after I told him what was going on, and that he could kiss my ass if he wanted to make a big deal out of it, he seemed to back off. He was an asshole that always seemed to have a stick up his ass. Leah smiled at me a few days later as she decided to try to piss him off. I rolled my eyes.

"Think that's really a good idea?" I asked.

"What? You'll back me up."

I crossed my arms. "I will?"

She nodded. "Yes, you will. He can't get mad at me for having to pee, can he?"

I chuckled. "No, but he can pissed at you for asking."

"So? He wants me to report my every damn move to him, I will." She started jumping up and down, waving her arms to get the foreman's attention. I took a step back and just watched as she embarrassed the shit out of herself. She asked him four times that day if she could use the bathroom. By the end of it, she was laughing so hard she could hardly keep her sides together.

"Did you see his face that last time I asked?" she said as we got ready to leave. I just shook my head at her.

"You want a ride home?" I asked. I wasn't sure why.

She sobered up and turned to me. "I'd like to, Jake, but I have to meet my parents for dinner later."

I raised my eyebrow, then I realized what she thought I was asking. "No, that's not what I meant. I need to get back and check on my dad. I was just asking if you wanted a ride."

"Oh. You . . . Jacob Black, were you trying to be nice to me?" She put her hands on her hips and smirked at me.

I chuckled. "My God, what is the world coming to?"

"An apocalypse, I guess. I would like a ride home, if you don't mind."

I pulled my shirt on. "If I minded, would I have asked?"

She shook her head and walked with me to the car. "No, I don't think you would have."

* * *

><p>It was another three weeks before I finally took Leah to meet my dad. We still hadn't fucked yet. Her old man had set her up with a douche bag named Demitri, and she had to get rid of him before anything could happen. She didn't like him anyway. He tried to come around to the site a few times just to bug her, but she wouldn't let him. He tried pushing it a few times, and I always tried to let her handle it. It wasn't my place. Still, there was some strange, cold reaction in my gut when I watched him kiss her cheek. I got in the way a few times, and he never lingered when I did. He was a scrawny little dickhead; made me wonder why her dad thought he'd be good for her.<p>

It seemed the more time I spent talking to her, the more I kind of liked her. I didn't _like her_, like her. Not like that. But I could put up with her more easily. I had to admit I wanted to fuck her. The woman turned me on when she argued with me. I couldn't even describe how messed up that was on more than one level, but she did. She was the only person I knew, aside from my dad, who would stand up to me when I was in a bad mood. She even had the audacity to question me about taking my medicine. The truth was that I'd forgotten to take it for a few days, but she didn't need to be sticking her nose there. She did it anyway, and nothing I said even came close to stopping her.

The first part of May, Leah finally got rid of the parasite, and we made a plan to let her meet my dad. I was surprised to find that I was nervous. It was only because I knew he was going to pull some awkward shit. I pulled into the driveway and hesitated for a second.

"Just remember that he's sick, okay? Sometimes he doesn't know what he's saying."

Leah rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Jake. Nothing your dad says is going to make me expect a ring, okay?"

"Okay."

We got out and headed into the house. I was a little surprised to see dad sitting up in his wheelchair, watching TV. He looked over at me when I walked in. His eyes flickered between Leah and me a few times before his face broke out in a huge smile.

"Hey, Dad," I said. I took Leah over to the couch and had her sit down. "Um, this is Leah. You said you wanted to meet her, so here she is. Leah, this is my dad, Billy."

"Well, it's about damn time," he said, turning himself to see us better. He reached out for Leah's hand. "How are you doing, sweetheart?"

She smiled a surprisingly gentle smile that fit the name Dad had given her. "I'm fine, thank you, Billy. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm still kicking. Searching for that bucket." He chuckled, but I didn't find anything funny about the comment. Leah glanced at me.

"Oh, well, let's hope you don't find it for a while."

Dad patted her hand and moved back. "Let's hope. What the hell took you so damn long, Son? She's beautiful."

"She's a friend."

He gave me a knowing look. "For now." He turned back to Leah. "He's stubborn."

She laughed. "I've noticed." I glared at her, but either she was purposely ignoring me or she really didn't notice.

"Anyone hungry?" I asked.

Dad smiled. "I could use something to eat. What about you, dear?"

I tried to keep my grumbling to a minimum. He was already trying to win her over. Leah nodded. "Sure. What've you got?"

Dad looked up at me. "Why don't you run and grab some hamburgers? I haven't had any in a while. Leah can stay here with me."

"Don't you think you should ask her if she wants to first?"

Leah didn't catch on. Or maybe she was trying to make my life hell. "I don't mind."

I wouldn't mind Leah staying so much if I didn't know my dad was going to bring out the big guns as soon as I walked out the door. Sob stories made to get her to pity not only his situation, but mine as well. I just prayed she was as strong with him as she was with me. I didn't think I could handle her if she started talking about dating and shit.

When I got back with lunch, they were still in the same position they had been in when I left; Leah on the couch and Dad in his chair beside it. They were both laughing about something, and I was suspicious immediately. Leah looked up at me for a second, then burst into laughter again.

"All right, what the hell is going on?" I set the bags down on the coffee table and sat next to Leah.

"You should watch your mouth when you're in the presence of a lady," Dad said. Didn't matter than he'd used the same word earlier.

"Whatever, Dad. What did you tell her?" I looked over at Leah. She was just starting to calm down.

"It was nothing, Jake," she said, still smiling. "He was just telling me how you used to snuggle with your teddy bears. It was cute."

My mouth dropped. "What the fuck, Dad?"

He shrugged. "You did. And like she said, it was cute."

"Leah, eat your lunch so I can take you home." I handed her the sandwich she'd asked for, then dug Dad's out.

"Oh, come on, Jake. Don't be like that."

I glared at him. "Don't be like what?"

Leah cleared her throat. "He's just being a proud dad." She put her hand on my arm, but I pulled away. "Don't be so sour."

I didn't say anything else. I'd known my dad was going to act like that; what was so damn surprising about any of it? When everyone was finished eating, I took Leah home.

"Jake, about earlier—"

"Just drop it. Don't apologize or wring it out, just drop it."

She nodded and touched my arm before she got out of the car. "Okay. See you later."

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>A few days later, I was having a bad day. Dad kept going on about shit he had no business talking about, and everyone at work pissed me off more than usual. I damn near busted several tools, including a nail gun. I didn't know what the hell my problem was, but I was ready to throw my hands up and call it quits.<p>

Leah came up at me at lunch. "Hard day?"

I scoffed. "You have no fucking clue."

She nodded. "So . . . do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

I raised my eyebrow. "What, you mean your dad's not forcing to another bullshit company dinner?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I'm free tonight. What about you?"

"Just need to check on my dad, but other than that, I'm free."

"Good. I'll take the bus home tonight. Just come over when you're done with what you need to do, okay?"

I nodded, and she walked away. I could have imagined the way she moved her hips. Either way, my dick sure as hell liked it. Seemed things might be looking up. I sighed and went about the rest of my day. I went home after work, checked on Dad, grabbed a couple condoms, and left. He asked me where I was going, but I just replied, "Out." He didn't say anything else.

I knocked on Leah's door, eager to get this evening started. It had been a long time since I'd been with a woman, and I was definitely ready. She answered wearing an oversized t-shirt that came to the middle of her thighs with no pants. I raised my eyebrows as she stepped back for me to come in. My eyes kept straying to her legs. They were always sexy as fuck, but even more so when they were naked.

"So are you hungry at all?" she asked.

I nodded. "I'm fucking starving." I pulled her up close to me and kissed her. She whimpered and threw her arms around my neck. She broke the kiss, but I just went after her neck.

"That's not exactly what I—oh!" she gasped when I bit her hard. "What I meant."

"Shut up," I growled against her throat.

She pushed me back a little. "I invited you here for dinner, Jake."

"Don't fucking play with me, Leah. We both know what you invited me here for. I want dessert first."

She smirked. "Oh, all right. Do you plan on fucking me in the hallway?"

I looked around and found the nearest flat surface—the kitchen table. I picked her up, and she just held on until I set her down again. I grabbed her t-shirt and lifted it over her head. As I'd suspected, she was naked underneath it.

"Jesus Christ, Leah."

She rubbed my chest. "I have a confession, Jake," she said as her hands wandered down to my pants. I squeezed her tits. "There never was a rumor about us fucking; I made it up because I wanted you."

"You talk too much. Either shut your damn mouth or suck my dick."

She smirked at me as she sank to her knees. She worked my zipper, and I closed my eyes as she didn't even hesitate to start sucking. Fuck, but it felt good. The woman knew what she was doing, that was for damn sure. I wasn't sure she'd actually be able to, but she managed to deep throat me and take the whole damn thing. I held the back of her head tightly, pushing harder than I should have into her mouth.

"Fucking Christ, Leah," I groaned. With my dick all the way down her throat, she licked my balls, and my eyes rolled back into my head a little. She gasped for air when I pulled back, but didn't stop.

"Fuck my mouth, Jake," she said, looking up at me. I took hold of her head and shoved in, fucking her hard. It was such a goddamn turn-on to see her like this, my dick shoved so far down her throat she could hardly even breathe.

"Goddammit, Leah . . . Fuck, I'm going to cum."

She pulled back. "Cum on my face."

Was she fucking serious? I didn't care. I grabbed my dick and rubbed the shit out of it, holding her hair tightly with my free hand. I growled loudly as my release spilled in spurts all over her face. She licked her lips and sucked the last few drops out before she stood up. She grabbed her t-shirt and wiped herself off, then sat on the edge of the table.

"My turn, Jake. Make me cum." She spread her legs.

I was the kind of guy that usually got his woman off first, then worried about himself. I didn't give a shit that I'd cum before she did. I'd make it up to her. I got on my knees in front of her and slid my hands up her smooth thighs.

I ran my fingers over her already wet pussy, and she moaned a little. If she was this turned on already, it shouldn't be hard to give her an orgasm she'd remember for a while. I spread her lips with one hand and started off gently as I rubbed her clit. She whimpered and reached out to grab my hair. She tried to pull me close, but I smirked and went at my pace. I'd tease the fuck out of her before I gave her what she wanted.

"God, Jacob," she whined, her voice barely a whimper. "Just make me cum."

I shook my head. "Let me play with you, Leah." I moved faster, giving her just a little of what she needed. She gasped, and her body jerked. I smiled and pushed harder.

"Oh, my fucking God." She leaned back with one palm behind her supporting her as she reached up to play with her tit with the other. "Please . . ."

I was starting to get turned on again watching her move. Her stomach clenched a few times, and I could almost watch her pussy get wetter. She was writhing by the time I finally slipped a finger inside her. She was so wet it was easy to slip three inside her at once. I leaned forward and licked her clit, going at it hard and fast. I didn't even get three strokes of my fingers in before she moaned loudly and tightened around my fingers. The rush of wetness from her orgasm nearly made me lose it. I stood up and grabbed my dick again.

"You ready for me to fuck you?"

She nodded. I dug a condom out of my pants pocket and got it on, then I thrust into her pussy harshly. I didn't stop until she'd taken the whole damn thing. She moaned loudly and reached up to grab my neck.

"Fuck me hard, Jake," she begged.

I didn't hold back. I pushed against her as hard and fast as I could, holding her hips at the edge of the table so she wouldn't slip back. It was rocking back and forth and sounded close to breaking, but I didn't care.

"Jesus Christ, your pussy feels good," I growled, my teeth clenched.

She threw her head back with another loud moan and tightened her grip on my neck. When she tried to speak, it came out as a series of whimpers that I didn't even care to decipher. I couldn't help but feel a little cocky that I'd rendered her speechless. I was getting damn close to another release when her body started to tighten up again. Her moans got louder, and her squirms and wriggles got closer together. I pushed her knees further apart and held one leg out as I reached down and rubbed her clit hard and fast with my thumb. Her whole body jerked, and she cried out again.

"Cum for me again, Leah," I demanded. "Cum right now." As I pushed into her, I started to rub her clit with three fingers, flicking them across her little nub quickly. Her hand in my hair clenched into a tight fist, then suddenly she released. She damn near squirted on my dick, and the harsh clenching of her walls around me did me in. I pulled out of her and ripped the condom off to cum on her stomach.

I was spent. I sat down hard in one of the kitchen chairs and laughed breathlessly when she all but collapsed on the table.

"Holy Jesus fucking Christ," she mumbled a few minutes later. "Jacob, I have never fucked anyone as good as you."

I smirked. "You're not too bad yourself."

She lifted her head. "What do you mean 'not too bad'? I made you cum twice, didn't I?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, you deserve some credit there. You were pretty damn good, Leah."

"Don't you forget it." She dropped her head back down, and we both took a few more minutes to calm down. Once my heartbeat had returned to normal and I could move again, I got up and got my clothes back on. Leah sat up and picked up her shirt to clean up again.

"See you at work tomorrow."

She looked up at me, and I swear I saw surprise in her eyes. "Oh . . . um, yeah. See you later."

"What, did you expect me to stay?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Have a good night."

I left, and all the way home I told myself I didn't feel guilty for leaving. It would be pointless to even try anything with Leah; she wasn't looking for love, and neither was I. Fucking every now and then, I could handle. I wasn't going to put up with all the bullshit that dating required like pretending I actually liked the girl. Even if I did kind of like Leah.

Dad was sitting in his chair watching a movie when I got home. I said hi, got a response, and went to my room. I all but slammed the door and repeated in my head over and over again that I didn't like Leah more than I liked anyone else at the site. She was just convenient because she had a vagina. Somewhere, deep inside me, I couldn't even believe my own thoughts. I'd never treated a woman like I was treating Leah. My mother would be spinning in her grave if she knew I'd just done.

I sat on the bed and leaned forward, grabbing my hair. It didn't fucking matter. Mom was dead, Dad wanted shit he wasn't going to get, and Leah was convenient. That's all there was to it. With that thought, I got up to take a shower and wash off all the damn sex.

* * *

><p>AN: Sooo . . . was it what you were expecting? Jake's got a lot of inner shit to deal with, no? The next oneshot will include their trip to the Rocky Mountains mentioned in chapter 9 (Hanging) of Give Me a Sign. Not sure when it'll be done, but I'm working on it :)

You can listen to the playlist for this story by going to givemeasignplaylist . weebly . com /simple-design-playlist . html The link is also on my profile.


	2. Secrets

A/N: Not much to say here. Just enjoy, and it's not mine. Oh, yeah, and Leah's parents (Harry and Sue Clearwater) are very OOC in this.

* * *

><p><span>Simple Design<span>

The Story of Jake and Leah

Part Two

Secrets

_Tell me what you want to hear  
>Something that'll light those ears<br>I'm sick of all the insincere  
>So I'm gonna give all my secrets away<em>

-Secrets – OneRepublic

* * *

><p><em><strong>Jacob<strong>_

"I'm just saying she's a nice girl."

I'd had it. I stood up, turned without a word, and walked out of the room. I might be an asshole, but I wasn't about to yell at my dad after the news he just got. A part of me couldn't even believe he wanted to talk to me about my so-called relationship with Leah after hearing that his kidneys were only functioning at forty-five percent. They told him dialysis was an imminent future for him. He didn't like the idea, but I wasn't going to let him pass it by. He was too fucking young to just let it go like that.

"Jacob," Dad called. I ignored him and slammed my door shut.

I sat on the bed and sighed. Leah was a good friend. She wasn't upset with me for leaving right after fucking her our first time. Or the second or third. She did ask me to actually stay for dinner after the fourth, though. I figured it was the least I could do since she so willingly gave me access to her pussy. Not only was she not upset on top of still letting me fuck her, she was also just there. We talked about our situations with our families a little more at work. We never really talked on the nights we got together. Not about anything important, anyway. The times I stayed for dinner, we talked about stupid shit like things we liked or didn't like. I didn't tell her, but I sure as hell did not like how much I wanted to hear her answers when she told me something new about her.

I'd known her for two months. Two months and my dad was already trying to convince me to fall madly in love with her and give her a ring. I couldn't even count how many times I'd told him that neither of us were into marriage and shit. He didn't get it. It was like any time I told him to shut up about it, he automatically tuned it out. He sure as hell heard me when I'd slip and say something about her, though. Once, and only once, I'd made a major mistake by telling my dad I thought Leah was beautiful. Did it matter that I'd only said it once? No, it didn't. Because that old man could rehash anything to the point of it becoming everyday conversation.

I ran my fingers through my hair and pretended I didn't hear him hollering shit down the hall. I needed to get out of the fucking house. I grabbed my keys, stepped into my shoes, stared down at my dirty jeans for a second before deciding they were fine, and walked out of the room.

"I'm leaving," I said as I passed through the living room. "Take care of yourself, Dad; I'll be back sometime tonight."

"Where are you going?"

I shrugged. "Don't know; don't really care."

I drove around for a while until I finally decided to visit Leah. She wasn't doing anything since it was her day off as well, so she said I could hang out for a bit. She was making lunch and offered some, but I wasn't hungry.

"My dad wants to meet you."

I looked up at Leah and took another swig of the beer she'd given me. "Really?"

She nodded and sat down at the kitchen table with her sandwich. "Yeah. Apparently I talk about you too much. And he likes that you've been in construction for so long."

I smirked. "I'm sure he does. Now we've got both our parents petitioning for marriage."

She laughed. "Let them. We know what we want." She winked at me. I smiled and took another drink. "So do you want to meet him? At least so I can get him off my back?"

"Sure, I guess. Let him see what a jackass I am."

She snorted. "Won't matter to him. You've met some of the guys he tries to set me up with. There is no limit to the amount of douchebaggery that man will put up with if he thinks there's a potential husband for me."

"Yeah, but I'm not a douche bag. I'm a jerk. There's a slight difference." I sat up and tossed the empty bottle, then got a soda.

"You can have another beer if you want." She gestured to the fridge.

"Thanks, but I don't want to overdo it. Meds and all."

She nodded. "At least you're not a stupid jerk."

I smiled. "When you want me to meet him?"

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Sometime soon."

"Saturday?" We both had it off; it was convenient.

"Sure. I warn you, he's worse than your dad. I swear he will stop at nothing. And he'll probably want to make it a big dinner thing." She rolled her eyes.

I shrugged. "Eh, free food. I can't pass that up."

She smiled. "Thank you, Jake. I appreciate it."

She finished her lunch, and I just watched her. I wasn't sure why I liked watching her do shit, but I did. She did it with grace, no matter what it was. Even working on the site, she was graceful. It was strange because at first glance, a person wouldn't think she was capable of it. She glanced at me a few times, but didn't say anything. She'd gotten over the creepiness a while ago.

I stayed until it got dark, then I went home. Dad was asleep already. I woke him up just long enough to make sure he was okay then got myself ready for bed.

* * *

><p>"So Leah tells me you've been in construction for six years," Leah's dad, Harry Clearwater, said on Saturday. Dinner wasn't ready yet, and Leah, Harry, and I were sitting on the couch while her mother, Sue, was finishing in the kitchen. I just nodded. "You look young. When did you get started?"<p>

"When I was eighteen."

Everything was silent as he obviously waited for me to say more. Leah looked a little smug; she knew I wasn't impressing anyone.

"And how did you get involved?" he prodded.

I sighed and leaned forward, pretending to be more annoyed by his question than I really was. I had to make sure this man didn't want me near his daughter. "Volunteered for the community and got noticed by the foreman."

He raised his eyebrows. "That's impressive." No, it wasn't, asshat. "He got you hooked, huh?" He smiled, as though expecting me to just open up and laugh and tell stories with him like we were old chums.

"Yeah, I guess." I sat back. "Dinner done yet?"

"Uh . . ." Harry seemed stumped. Apparently I'd asked a question that wasn't in his arsenal. "Leah, why don't you be a sweetheart and go check with your mother." Well, fuck. I wanted him to get off his ass and check. I would have told her she didn't need to if I wasn't trying to come off as the biggest asshole in the world. She sighed and got up.

Almost as soon as her ass disappeared from the room, Harry scooted close and started talking shop. I groaned internally and just went with it, answering his questions as quickly as I could with as few words as possible. From the kitchen, I heard another conversation going on of Sue trying to convince Leah I was "charming and good-looking."

Twenty minutes later, dinner was finally done. We sat down and ate, and I made damn sure I forgot every single manner my mother ever taught me. Had Leah actually invited me over as her date, she would have been devastatingly embarrassed. As it was, she was having a hard time hiding her smile. I tried to leave as quickly as possible once we were done. I was intercepted as I was saying goodbye to Leah, though.

"Could I have a word with you, Son?" Harry said. Right there I wanted to hit him. I wasn't his son, and I never would be. I glanced at Leah, and she shrugged. Her face showed her apology. I hoped mine showed her it wasn't her fault. I went with the man to his study. He started off by talking about a few of the conversation pieces he had sitting around. More like brag pieces. They were all from what he called his major accomplishments. Fifteen minutes later, I was really sick of hearing his voice.

"Was there something you wanted to say to me, or was this just to show off?"

He turned to me and folded his arms. "I like you, Jacob. You're direct, you don't take shit, and you're smart."

Shit. The whole damn night fucking backfired on me. "And?"

"I want to make you an offer. You see, my daughter thinks she can run this company when I'm gone. I don't think she can. It takes someone strong, direct, and smart to run a business like this."

"You don't think Leah's strong, direct, and smart?" He obviously didn't know her very well. I thought that was sad.

He sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Well, here's the deal. My wife gave me two kids, a boy and a girl. That boy was direct and smart, but he wasn't very strong. Then he got sick. I tried not to give up hope on him, but once the seizures got really bad, it was obvious he wasn't cut out to be a contractor. With him gone, I've only got her. I'm not going to live forever, and she needs to find a man who can do what it takes to keep this company alive." I ground my teeth together as I listened to him. I would hear him out only because I wanted my response to be well-heard. "I think you're that man."

"What if she's not interested in me as a husband?"

He shrugged. "Sometimes sacrifices have to be made in the name of business."

He'd sacrifice his fucking daughter for his fucking business. What a dad. "What if I'm not interested in being a businessman?"

"Well, now, that's where my offer comes in. You see, I want you, and I'm prepared to pay whatever it takes to get you."

I clenched my fists. "I'm not for sale."

"Every man has a price, Jacob. Name it. Not only do you get my daughter as a wife, but I'll give you money. A nice car. How much money do you want? Ten grand?"

Ten grand would have been hard to pass up if the situation was different. At the moment, it was really fucking easy. I took a few steps closer to him and narrowed my eyes. He seemed to get it that I wasn't happy, because he leaned back a little, and his eyes widened.

"Listen to me very carefully," I said. My voice was harsh. "I don't want to be a contractor. I've never wanted to be a contractor. If I wanted to be a fucking businessman, I'd start my own goddamn business. Your daughter is not a fucking whore you can sell to someone. She is smart, persistent, and I've seen her do things even I can't do. She's braver than most men I know, and now I know why she's intent on killing herself at the fucking site to impress you. Open your fucking eyes and see what you've got. If she's not capable of running this goddamn business, then no one is."

He swallowed and held his hands up. "Now, Jacob, come on. There's a reason contractors are men. Women can't handle the work."

I wanted to punch him on behalf of my mother. He was really fucking lucky I'd been doing so well taking my meds, or I would have pounded his face into the dirt for that comment. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"It's true, Jacob. It's far too demanding. It requires a lot of skill and attention to detail."

I took a step back. "This conversation is over, Harry. I'm not for sale, and neither is your daughter. If you try to pawn her off for some random jackass to run your company again, I'll break your fucking legs."

"You're stepping on dangerous territory. Do not threaten me again, or I'll—"

"I don't make threats. That is a promise. You want to test me, go right ahead. I won't mention this conversation to Leah, and neither will you. Goodbye." I turned around and walked out without waiting for a response. It had been a long time since I'd been this pissed, and I needed to let off some steam before I hurt someone. Leah followed me outside to my car.

"Jacob, wait . . . are you okay?" She stood in front of the car door so I couldn't get in.

"I'm fucking peachy. Move."

She shook her head. "What did he say?"

"Move your ass, Leah."

"Jacob, talk to me. What happened?"

I growled and ran my fingers through my hair. I hadn't lied to Harry; I didn't want Leah to know just how big of a prick her dad was. If she didn't know already. "He said exactly what we both knew he was going to say. He wants me to marry you."

She put her hand on my arm. "You shouldn't drive when you're this upset, Jake."

"I can't stay here or I'll end up killing your dad."

"He said more than just asking you to marry me, didn't he?"

I sighed. "Drop it. Let me leave, please."

She moved her hand up to my shoulder. "Do you want to go to my place?"

I knew what she was asking. I shook my head. "Honestly, Leah, I'm afraid I'd really hurt you with the mood I'm in right now. I appreciate the offer, but no thanks."

She pursed her lips but nodded. "Okay. Well, drive safe." I nodded, and she moved out of the way.

I drove down to the limestone quarry where Adam had once showed me how to mine the stone. It was dark, but I didn't give a fuck. I took my flashlight, got some tools, then went to find a spot that had some crappy stone. I knew that what I was doing could get me fired if I got caught. If I only turned the shitty stone to dust, though, that was less likely to happen. I found a good spot and positioned the flashlight so I could see what I was doing, then I used the pickaxe to break off a few chunks of stone. The manual labor helped calm me down, but it was nothing compared to smashing the rocks with the sledgehammer. I pretended the rocks were Harry's head, and it really helped. Twelve large pieces of stone later, I felt calm enough to go home.

* * *

><p>The next two weeks went by fairly smoothly. Leah mentioned that her dad had eased off on her a little bit, and I was happy to hear it. I honestly didn't want the police reports that would surely be involved with breaking his legs. I wasn't sure how Leah would feel about it, either. I knew she kind of liked him for some reason.<p>

I was at Leah's one night, having dinner after sex, when she brought something up.

"My dad thinks we should take a vacation," she said as sat down with her plate. I'd helped her cook that time, and our steaks turned out pretty fucking good.

I raised my eyebrow. "What kind of vacation?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. He just said he'd pay for a two- or three- day vacation somewhere for the both of us."

"Hmm. Sounds fishy." I'd have to have a chat with Harry about this.

She laughed and took a bite. "Yeah, I know. But, I do know you could use some relaxation. That's the only reason I didn't tell him to fuck off."

I met her eyes for a second, then I nodded. "What about my dad? I can't leave him alone for that long."

She pursed her lips. "That, I don't know. Maybe my dad would pay for a caretaker for a few days."

"I would be the one to choose the person; I don't trust just anyone with him."

"Well, duh. I'll talk to my dad about that, okay?"

I nodded. "Let me know."

"I will. He wanted me to ask you where you would want to go."

"Somewhere without any other people."

She smiled. "You're an extrovert in the extreme, you know that?"

I snorted. "Do I detect a hint of sarcasm there?"

"No, none at all."

We both chuckled a little, then finished our dinner. As I got ready to leave, I told her I'd talk to my dad about the possibility of having a caretaker for a few days. I wouldn't even consider it if he wasn't comfortable with the idea.

Turns out, he was fantastic with the idea. I should have known he would be if it meant I went somewhere alone with Leah.

"I think you should go, Jacob," he said to me as we played a game of poker the next week. "Get away from all of this and get to know that girl better. You never what could happen when you're away from all the stress." He raised his eyebrows as if suggesting I could get lucky with her. I smirked. If only he knew.

"Sure, Dad."

He stared at me for a second, and I had a feeling I just let the cat out of the bag. "Jake, tell me you're not already sleeping with her."

I rolled my eyes. "No, I'm not sleeping with her. There's a big difference between that and fucking her."

His eyes widened. "You refuse to call her your girlfriend, but you've been intimate with her?"

I put my cards down and looked over at him. "Dad, listen to me. I don't live in the same world you grew up in, okay? Just because I kissed her doesn't mean I'm madly in love with her. She knows perfectly well where I stand with all this relationship shit, and she's happy with the arrangement we have. Believe me, if she wasn't, I'd hear about it." One of my stipulations for having Leah as a fuck buddy was that she did talk to me if she wasn't happy with how we set things up. I wasn't big enough of an asshole to not give a shit about her feelings. If she got too attached, we'd call it quits. No harm, no foul. She made me promise the same thing.

"Do you know what your mother would say?" he asked, obviously still upset.

"Yes. I know exactly what she'd say. She'd say I'm an asshole and she can't believe I could be so insensitive and stupid. I already know I'm a jerk, Dad. Leah knew that within five minutes of meeting me. She was the one that brought up the damn arrangement to begin with."

His brow furrowed. "How long is this going to go on? And are you two being careful? Lord knows you should use protection even with a goddamn girlfriend."

"I always wear a condom, and she's taking birth control." It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world talking about this with him, but I wasn't going to lie.

"Well at least she's not as stupid as you are."

I rolled my eyes. "So are we done playing cards?"

"I thought I taught you better than that, Son. Women are not toys you can simply have your way with then discard. Leah deserves much better than you." He put his cards down and leaned forward on the table. "One day you'll regret the way you're treating her. You'll wish you had better sense about you when you had the chance."

"Whatever, Dad. Are you done lecturing me?"

He glared at me. I'd known he wouldn't be happy about my situation with Leah, but this was ridiculous. "I really don't want to look at you anymore anyway."

"All right. See you later." I got up and walked away.

* * *

><p>"What about a camping trip?" Leah suggested.<p>

I scowled. "At a crowded, lame-ass camp site?" What happened to no other people?

She smiled and shook her head. "No, we could go to the Rockies in New Mexico. There are places we can go that are set up for camping already but are all alone where no one can hear you scream."

I chuckled. "Sounds better than anything else we've talked about so far." All the stupid attraction sites like the crater, the Grand Canyon, steamboats or whatever the hell this goddamn state offered would be swarming with people.

"So do you want to do that? I haven't been camping in a while, and I've never been up in the mountains like that. I think it would be fun." She put a map in front of me. "We could go somewhere around here." She pointed to northern New Mexico.

"Okay. You get everything planned and mapped out, and I'll go with you."

She glared at me. "Knock it off, Jacob. If you want to do this, you're going to have to at least put in your opinion."

I nodded. "I know. Ask me anything, and I'll give you my two cents. It was your dad's idea that got us into this, Leah. I don't like him, and he doesn't like me. I don't get what he thinks he's going to accomplish with this damn vacation bullshit."

She sighed and sat next to me. "I happened to mention that your birthday was coming up, and he wanted to do something for you."

I raised my eyebrow. "He hates me, Leah. Why the fuck would he want to do something for my birthday?"

"Okay, first of all, he doesn't hate you. Second of all, maybe I asked him to do it." She looked down, and my stomach dropped.

"Leah—"

"I'm not falling for you or any of that, Jake. I just wanted to do something nice for you because I'm your friend."

I met her eyes and stared her down for a minute. She stared back, and I saw everything I needed to see in her face. She wasn't lying to me. I could handle this if it was just friends. "Okay. Camping trip it is. You worry about the location and how we'll get there and all that, and I'll get the shit we need, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay, but my dad's paying for everything. You can choose anything you want, but let me go with you so I can use his card."

"Sounds like a plan."

Over the next two weeks, Leah made all the arrangements and we got everything we needed like a tent and sleeping bags and all that shit. I interviewed countless caretakers until my dad stepped in and told me he was going to choose one. I didn't like that idea, but I didn't argue with him. He decided on a middle-aged woman with a thick Italian accent named Sofia. I had a feeling he just liked the way she talked about food. I took her aside and made sure she understood exactly what my dad could and couldn't have to eat.

* * *

><p>"I know how to pitch a damn tent, Leah."<p>

She stood beside me with her hands on her hips. "Have you ever done that before?"

I huffed but didn't say anything in return. She didn't need to know my dad and I never went camping after Mom died. Instead of lying or admitting that I didn't know what the hell I was doing, I just pounded the stake harder into the ground. She put her hand on my shoulder.

"Take it easy, Jake, or you'll break it."

I shrugged her off. "I'm not breaking anything."

I could almost hear her roll her eyes before she walked away. A half an hour later, I was ready to bomb the whole fucking thing. Who in their goddamn mind thought the fucking tent poles were a good idea? I could probably build a shelter faster than I could put this thing up. I was able to get it to the point of being lopsided and droopy, but at least one of the damn poles stayed up. I declared it done and walked away before I ripped it.

To Leah's credit, she didn't laugh the way I'd expected her to. I did catch her fighting a smile, though. Instead, she took my hand, walked back to the tent, and silently began to show me what the fuck I was supposed to do.

We were halfway done when she finally spoke. "The good news is that these stakes are so deep I don't think a hurricane could move them. Good job on that."

I don't know how the fuck she did it, but she actually made me feel good about the whole tent thing.

By the time our tent was set up and all of our shit was moved inside, the sun was starting to set. I stood up and looked out over the mountains, awed by the beauty. The sunset was always a beautiful thing in the city, but my God . . .

"Pretty, isn't it?" Leah said as she came to stand beside me.

I took her hand and smiled at her. "Gorgeous." I swear I was talking about the sky and the light reflecting off the peaks. My eyes flickered to her tits then back up to her eyes. She was smiling that soft, gentle smile again.

"Hungry?"

I nodded, and we went back to the tent to dig out our dinner. We brought sandwiches and sat inside the tent while we ate. We were just about done when I noticed Leah shivering.

"You cold?" I asked.

She looked at me for a second as if she hadn't thought I'd notice, then she shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

Of course she was. Just like I was fine with the tent. I figured if she could help me with the tent, I could warm her up. I didn't really know what to do without calling her bluff. I got an idea and smiled to myself. "I'll be right back."

If there was one thing I knew how to do, it was start a fire. Granted, I'd never started one that I intended to contain, but I figured that wouldn't be too hard. I got some dry logs, kindling, and the paper wrappers from our sandwiches, then sat down outside a ring of rocks that had obviously been used as a fire pit before. It took me a half an hour, and it was nice and dark by the time I was done, but I had a good fire going.

"Leah, come here," I called.

She stepped out of the tent and smiled. "Oh, my God! Caveman made fire!"

I snorted and moved back a few feet. "Shut up and come here."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I told you to." I held out my arm and beckoned her with my fingers. She rolled her eyes and came over to me. I made her sit in front of me so I could wrap my arms around her and keep her extra warm. She held out her hands toward the fire, rubbing them together a little. I was surprised by just how cold her skin was. She was in a t-shirt, though, so I probably shouldn't have been. "Didn't you bring a jacket?" I asked as I rubbed her arms.

"Yeah, but it's just a thin cotton one. It's over 100 degrees at home, Jake. I didn't think it would be colder than the ninth circle of hell here."

I chuckled and kissed her head. It surprised us both, but neither of us called attention to it. "I'll keep you warm; don't worry."

She snuggled into my embrace a little more. "Who's going to keep you warm?" she asked.

I rested my chin on her shoulder. "Are you kidding? I don't get cold."

"Oh," she chuckled. "Okay."

We were both silent for a while as we both just watched the fire. She leaned her head back on my shoulder, and my eyes flickered to her throat. I couldn't help but kiss her lightly.

"My God, Jake," she said softly.

"I knew I was good, Leah, but damn."

She laughed and smacked my arm. "I was talking about the stars."

I smiled and looked up. The sky was pitch black but littered with more stars than I'd seen in a long time. "Wow."

"It's so beautiful." Her voice was breathless. I'd never heard her say anything that sounded so reverent. She looked at me and smiled. "Are you having a good time?"

"Yeah, it's not so bad." It was actually a lot more peaceful than I'd thought it would be.

Leah smirked. "That's what you say when you have to suffer through mini-golf or something."

I chuckled. "I'm having a great time."

She kissed my cheek. "Good. I am, too. Who knew I'd actually have fun with you in the middle of nowhere?"

I smiled and held her a little tighter. It was starting to get chilly despite the fire. "Well, I knew you'd have a good time. I mean, you are with me."

"That's my point." I poked her in the ribs, but she didn't squirm. "I'm not ticklish, Jake."

I didn't push it. I knew that absolutely no good could come of her finding out I was. We were both quiet again until the flames started to die down. The air was cold, but I didn't want to get up and get a jacket or anything. If she was okay in a t-shirt, I was fine, too.

"Aren't you going to stoke it or something?" Leah asked.

"Afraid you'll lose your warmth?" I joked. I patted her arm and she moved out of my way so I could revive the fire.

"That's okay, if the fire goes out we could always make our own heat." She raised her eyebrows and turned, sticking her hips out a little more than necessary as she walked the few feet to the tent. I laughed to myself as I rolled the logs around and put a few more on. I wouldn't be opposed to some mountain fucking. When Leah came back, she had a blanket. I raised my eyebrow in question, and she smirked. "This is for you."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't need it. I told you I don't get cold."

She didn't look convinced. "I'm sure. How about for us, then? Wrap yourself in it, then cuddle with me. It'll be romantic." She fluttered her eyelashes.

"Don't do that; it looks like you have something stuck in your eye. I'll take this, but it's only because I don't want to spend the night with a block of ice." I sat down again and put the blanket around my shoulders, then wrapped my arms around her in front of me. I wouldn't admit it felt good.

"Neither do I, Jake. Deny it all you want, your skin is cold. You're usually hot." She ran her fingers over my arm, and I shivered. It wasn't because I was cold. It also wasn't because I liked it.

"Damn right, I'm hot." I kissed her behind her ear. "You always want me because I always turn you on."

She snorted. "Yeah, that's it."

"Admit it. I make you want babies."

She laughed out loud. "Babies with you? Are you kidding me? I'm never going to be a mother. And, let's face it; you're probably never going to be a dad."

"I can only hope. Can you imagine me getting up in the middle of the night trying to help a crying baby?" I shuddered at the thought.

"Poor thing wouldn't last a week."

"I think it would be funny to see you do it, though. Little Miss Tough Guy breast-feeding." I chuckled; the image was hilarious.

"You'd be jealous that you couldn't make milk." She shifted back a little bit, and I tightened my arms around her.

"You'd pump just so I could feel the little leech, too."

She turned to look back at me. "Are you saying you'd _want_ to feed the kid?"

I shrugged. "As long as you took care of all the shitty diapers, I suppose I could handle shoving a bottle in its face every now and then."

Her shoulders shook as she laughed again. "Let's pray you never have kids, okay?" She turned around again and pressed her back against my chest.

"Sounds good to me."

"So if you're never going to be a dad, what do you want to do with your life?"

I rested my chin on her shoulder and sighed. "I don't know. Take care of my dad until I can't anymore then go from there, I guess."

She nodded. "Sometimes I wish my dad was sick, you know? Then again, if he was, he'd probably be pushing ten times harder for me to find someone to take over for him."

I kissed her neck. "Do you really want to take over the business for him?" I was sure I could somehow talk him into letting her give it a shot. Or intimidate him into it. Either way.

She sighed. "I don't know, Jake. I thought I did. The more I work on the site, though, the more I think I like the actual work than I do the technical aspects of it. I've seen what my dad does, and I used to think it would be perfect for me. I can do it, don't get me wrong, but getting my hands on the building itself, being a part of its creation like that, is really cool."

I laughed a little at the way she put it. "Yeah, that's why I don't want to be a contractor, too. I considered it a while back, but I like getting my hands dirty. I'd give it a few more years to decide, if I were you. Not saying you need it, but you've only been doing it for three months. It could be the novelty talking."

She nodded. "O, Wise Man, thank you for the advice."

"You're welcome, young grasshopper."

She giggled and turned her head to look at me. "When did you find out you were bipolar?"

"I was diagnosed three years ago after I hit the foreman on a job. When did you find out you were annoying?"

She jabbed me with her elbow. "When I was five. My brother sometimes called me 'Leannoying.' He thought it was clever."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Leannoying? Should I call you that from now on?"

"You better not. I'll kick your ass." She hit me again, harder this time.

I grabbed her arms and made her cross them, holding tightly so she couldn't move. "I'd like to see you try." She pushed back against me and tried to move, but my hold was too strong for her. She grunted and turned her head to bite my shoulder. "Now you're just turning me on. Come on, Leah; show me what you've got."

She huffed. "I'll get free, then I'm going to beat you."

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

She turned to glare at me. "You won't be saying that when you're laying on the ground in pain."

"Sure, sure. How exactly do you plan on kicking my ass and making me writhe in pain if you can't even break out of a simple hold?" I double checked my hands to make sure I was holding secure enough.

"Simple my ass. Give me a minute."

I timed her. She struggled for five minutes before she finally gave up. Or I thought she did. Almost as soon as I began to relax my hold, she started to fight me again. She still couldn't break loose.

"Give up yet?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Hell no." Another two minutes passed before she gasped and stopped again. "Jake, stop," she whimpered. "You're hurting me."

I loosened my hold immediately. "What? How? I didn't do any—"

She pulled her arms free and turned to smack my shoulder. "Ha! Gotcha." She stood up and got away before I could catch her. I got up and chased her around the fire.

"You have a strange way of beating me, you know," I teased.

She stopped and turned around abruptly, and I stopped just before I ran into her. "Maybe I changed my mind."

"Oh, decided to go easy on me, huh?" I rubbed her arms when she shivered.

She hit my chest lightly. "Yeah, you are dealing with a lot, after all. It would be wrong of me to pick on you like that."

I nodded. "Ah, with my sick dad and all that. How kind of you to spare my dignity."

She shivered harder and stepped closer to me. "That and I kind of like being warm."

"I know what sick and twisted game you're playing, Leah." I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed her back to warm her up. "It's not fair to play with my emotions like that. One day I think I can trust you, the next you're threatening me."

"I should totally make up my mind." She rubbed her face on my shirt.

I leaned down and kissed her head. "Yes, you should."

"You know what else I should do?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, what else should you do?"

She smiled. "I should convince you to get back over by the fire because I'm freezing."

I walked backward to where we had been sitting, taking her with me. "So now you're cold?"

"Shut up and make me warm."

We sat down again, and I held her tightly with the blanket wrapped around us. "Better?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Thank you."

"Sure."

She took a deep breath, and we watched the flames die down again. It was nice and so relaxing. The near silence all around us was something I'd never experienced before. There had always been cars passing by, trains in the distance, and occasionally people talking. Out here, there were animals and insects, but the chatter was so different.

"Are you getting tired yet?" Leah asked. Her voice was soft.

"No. Are you?"

She yawned but shook her head. "I'm fine. What time is it?"

I checked my watch. "Two-thirty."

"Wow. Well, I guess just let me know if you do get tired."

"Mm-hmm. You, too." We'd see who cracked first.

Leah turned herself a little to rest her head against my shoulder. "Tell me something, Jake."

I waited for her to specify, but she didn't. "Tell you what?"

She shrugged. "I don't care. Something to keep me awake."

I smirked. "You can go to bed if you want."

"I know. But I don't want to yet, so tell me a story or something to keep me awake. Tell me about your mom."

I'd never really told anyone about her. I didn't feel comfortable telling people about the one woman that actually mattered in my life. And yet, I found that I didn't mind Leah asking about her. I took a deep breath and decided on something to tell her. "I don't know; she was always there. She had cancer. She didn't let it slow her down, though. Not until the last few months. She was the reason I liked teddy bears so much; she always called me her teddy bear." I tried to discreetly clear my throat so Leah wouldn't know I was having a hard time talking about this. I should have known she'd see right through me.

She lifted her head and kissed my cheek. "You don't have to tell me, Jake. You can talk about all the trouble you caused in high school."

I chuckled to myself. "I got more detention than I can count, broke the Vice Principal's car window, started a fire on the track field—they never caught me for that one—and tried to blow up the chem lab."

She sat up to look at me. "Damn, Jake, how did you never spend time in Juvy? Or did you?"

"No, I never did. I was just damn good at getting away with shit. Everything except skipping class and breaking the window, anyway. I had to talk to sheriff about the window, but the Vice Principal was nice enough to not press charges. She just made me work it off by shoveling her driveway and shit like that." I hated that woman.

"Why did you break her window? And was it the windshield?"

"Yeah, it was the windshield. I don't know why I did it. All I remember was that I was really pissed off at her. I think it had something to do with the chem lab incident, but I can't be sure anymore." I shook my head.

"Hmm. Why did you try to blow up the chem lab?" She seemed genuinely interested. I wondered briefly if she liked learning about me the way I did about her.

"The douche that shared my table pissed me off one too many times. I actually wanted to blow him up, but I only ended up breaking the beaker and making everything smell really bad. It wasn't so much what I actually did, but it was what I'd intended to do that got me in trouble. The teacher said it was the first time he was actually happy one of his students never paid attention." I laughed.

Leah smiled. "I bet that pissed you off even more, didn't it?"

"Yeah. I beat the shit out of him after school the next day, though. Then I got more detention for fighting on school property." I was a stupid kid. "What about you? Did you get into loads of trouble in school?"

She snorted. "Are you kidding me? I was a straight-A honor student. I never got detention, I never got into trouble, and I never tried to blow anyone up."

I raised my eyebrow. "I don't believe that for a second."

"The fire needs attention."

"Maybe you should flash it." I tried to lift her shirt, and she laughed as she smacked my arms.

"Stop it. You need to poke it, Jake."

"I'd like to poke something else." I kissed her neck.

She giggled and pulled away from me. "Knock it off and fix the fire, or you won't get any pussy for a week."

"Don't make threats you don't intend to keep, Leah." I patted her arm, and she moved out of my way so I could fix the flames again. When we sat back down, I wrapped my arms around her tightly. "Now tell me the real story of you and high school."

She sighed. "I really was an honor student, but that's because I was smarter than the average cookie. I paid attention in class and passed all my tests. I refused to be on the cheer team, even though every guy I fucked said I could make it."

"I knew fucking was in there somewhere. You had to learn your skills somewhere." I kissed her neck again, opening my mouth to nibble a little bit.

She shivered and leaned into me more. "Oh, yes. I was often told by the football guys that I could make a good porn star. I was never into being taped or having anyone watch, though."

I licked her under her ear. "You should have told me sooner."

She turned her head to look at me. "What?"

I smiled. "I'm joking. So how many guys did you fuck before you met me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Probably twelve or so. Between twelve and fifteen. I'm not sure. What about you?"

"You're number seven for me. I've been outnumbered." I sighed dramatically.

She kissed my lips. "Don't worry; you're still the best I've ever had. You and your nine-inch cock."

"Nine and three quarters, thank you very much." I bit her lip.

She pulled back from me. "Oh, excuse me. Can't forget those three quarters."

"Damn straight. They're very important. Are you tired yet?" I tried to kiss her again, but she turned away from me. I kissed her neck instead.

"I think so. Aren't you? Isn't it like six o'clock?"

I looked at my watch. "It's four o'clock. I guess we should try to get some sleep. We're heading back tomorrow, right? Or, well, tonight. You know what I mean."

"I don't know if I want to. It's so peaceful out here." She sighed and looked up at the stars again.

"It is, but eventually you'll miss things like the store and a real bathroom."

She yawned and nodded. "You're right. Shopping and convenient pissing are important to me. Let's go to bed. Will you put the fire out?"

I figured I probably wouldn't get to fuck her tonight. I kissed her cheek and pushed her up. "Yeah, you go get in bed; I'll put this out and be in there in a second."

I got up, and she turned to hug me. "Thank you. And happy birthday a little early."

I wasn't sure what it was she was thanking me for, but I just patted her back. "Sure." She went into the tent, and I put the fire out. I took a few minutes to stare up at the sky and the stars before I followed her. She was already asleep, so I just laid down beside her and closed my eyes. I wasn't really tired, but it was a long drive back home.

* * *

><p>Nothing major had changed on the site when Leah and I went back to work after our trip. Don had been arrested for assault and battery, which didn't surprise me. My dad was still pissed at me about the situation with Leah. That didn't surprise me, either.<p>

The caretaker Sofia hadn't done a very good job. She made sure Dad was fed, sure, but she hadn't done much in the way of making sure he ate the right things. He ended up in the hospital again two days after I got home because his blood sugar had gone over 900. It was the last time I'd leave him with someone, that was for damn sure.

My dad insisted on holding a birthday party for me. I made Leah promise she wouldn't get anything for me since she and her dad had done the mountain trip thing. We kept it small; it was just my dad, Leah, and myself. Dad was as sweet as ever to Leah, of course, but he still gave me dirty looks when he thought I wasn't looking.

Leah and I kept to our system. Anytime either of us needed a night of sex, we knew where to go. We tried new positions and new tricks; some worked and some failed miserably. We always ended up laughing when something didn't work. We were talking about all the things we'd done before when Leah brought up anal sex.

"Tell me you didn't," I said.

She smirked. "I did. I didn't like it, though. Have you ever tried it?"

I shook my head. "I don't like the idea of sticking my dick up someone's ass."

"Well, at least we both agree on that."

I chuckled. "True. What other kinky things have you done?"

"You name it, and I've probably tried it. Unless it could hurt me, I'll usually try anything once."

I nodded. "I'll have to think of something weird to try, then."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be weird. Just something neither of us has done. We should watch some porno together. I've never done that."

I raised my eyebrow. "You've never watched porn?"

She pushed my shoulder. "I meant I've never watched it with someone while we fucked. Of course I've watched it before."

That made more sense. "Oh, okay. Neither have I. Maybe we'll get some good ideas."

"Sounds fun. Bring what you've got next time and we'll decide what we want to start with."

I nodded. "Sure."

We didn't watch porn every time we fucked, but it was something that we both ended up liking. Somehow it made everything hotter, and sometimes we decided to try whatever the couple on the TV was doing.

Two months passed easily. My dad seemed to be doing a little better after his trip to the hospital, and it seemed when he felt better, I did better taking my meds. Leah helped, too. For a week, she asked me every single day if I'd taken my meds. For the most part, I was able to say I had, but there were two days I'd forgotten. I think she could tell when I hadn't. I was beginning to tell when I hadn't as well. It should have been obvious before, but with Leah pointing out when I was more aggressive than usual, it was easier to see.

I was having a bad day one Monday. My dad didn't know when the hell to let up, and I was really beginning to hate the day he found out Leah and I were fucking. Leah came up to me on lunch.

"You okay? You seem upset about something."

I moved back a few steps. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just my dad pissing me off. Nothing new."

She nodded and came close again. She reached out and put her hand on my arm. "Try to calm down, Jake. Did you take your meds today?" I nodded. "You can come by tonight if you need to."

She seemed hopeful. I couldn't deny that I wanted to be with her anyway. I nodded again. "Yeah. Thanks."

She smiled. "Sure."

I went home after work only long enough to make sure my dad was still breathing. He was up reading something in his room and asked me where I was going when I told him I'd be gone for a while. I didn't answer him. I knew he'd figure it out.

When I got to Leah's, she smiled and let me in. I pulled her close to me as soon as the door was shut and kissed her deeply. She pulled back and laughed. "What, no hello?"

"Hi. Living room or your bedroom?"

"Bedroom. It's more comfortable there."

I nodded, and we both went back to her room. I shut the door out of habit and pushed her against it as I attacked her neck. She grabbed my hair and gasped when I bit her and pushed my hips into her. I made damn sure I marked her skin up to her mouth.

"I need you to suck my dick, Leah," I said against her lips.

She smiled and licked me. "Then I need you to move so I can."

I ground my hips against her one more time before I stepped back. She dropped to her knees and helped me take my pants off. She stroked my dick a few times, teasing me. She smiled up at me, giving me a look I knew well. She was waiting for instruction. I grabbed her hair and pushed my dick down her throat. I closed my eyes and grunted, fucking her face until I felt the familiar tingling in my balls. She moved back so she just had my tip between her lips, then she pumped my shaft expertly until I exploded into her mouth. She took everything, then pulled back to show me what I'd given her. I touched her cheek, and she turned to spit it out on a towel she had laying on the floor.

"Why don't you swallow?" I asked.

She made a face when she turned back to me. "Have you ever tasted cum, Jake? That shit is nasty."

"I can't say that I have. I'll just trust you. Now lay on your back so I can eat your pussy." I helped her up and got her on the bed where she spread her legs for me. I got down on my knees between hers and kissed her thighs a few times before I went in. I really liked knowing that blowing me made her so horny. I spread her lips and only used my tongue, alternating between flicking her clit and toying with her entrance. She had my hair fisted in both hands, and she was squirming by the time she climaxed, cumming in my mouth. I wasn't sure what the difference was between her cum and mine, but hers wasn't half bad. I'd always enjoyed eating a woman out; it turned me on.

I was ready to fuck her when she sat up. "Get on your stomach," I said, helping her turn over.

"Do you want doggy style?" she asked.

I shook my head as I put on a condom. "No, I said stomach, not knees. Cross your ankles and stick your ass in the air." She did what I'd said, and I spread her ass cheeks to give me better access to her pussy. "Now just let me fuck you." I pushed into her, and she moaned.

"Oh, Jake. This feels good."

I kept my hands on her ass, holding her down where I wanted her as I thrust hard. "Fuck yes, it does. Now shut up and enjoy it."

She laughed, but it turned into a moan when I pushed against her faster. Her pussy seemed tighter in this position, and I closed my eyes and let the sensation wash through me. When I opened them again, she had her fists clenched in the bedspread. She'd already started to tense up again, and I smirked as I decided I'd try to make her cum a few more times.

"Tell me what you need, Leah," I grunted.

"Jesus, Jake . . . faster. You've got the right spot, just move faster and harder, please."

I squeezed her ass cheeks harder and gave her what she wanted. "Like that?"

"Oh . . . yes!" I wasn't sure how much longer I would actually last. Another release was starting to build again, and I just kept my pace. "Slap my ass," she asked.

I did, and it almost surprised me how good it felt. She cried out and begged for more, so I gave it to her. Her ass was red when she started to shake.

"That's right, baby," I said as I reached out and grabbed a handful of hair to pull. She cried out again and asked for harder. "Cum on my dick, Leah." I tugged her hair hard and smacked her ass.

Her pussy tightened with her release, and she pushed her face into the blanket as she moaned and her body jerked. I tried to hold out long enough for her to ride it. I pulled out of her and took the condom off to cum on her ass.

I laid down on my back beside her, and we both took a few minutes to calm down. When we could breathe normally again, I sat up, and she went into the bathroom to clean up.

"Jacob," she said. She was irritated about something. "Never cum on my ass again. This shit is hard to clean up."

I laughed to myself. "I can't promise that. I promise I'll try to remember, though."

"Oh, I'll remind you."

I started to get my pants on, and she put a t-shirt on when she came out of the bathroom. I smiled when I realized she'd never taken off her socks.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked. I could have been mistaken, but it sounded like she was serious.

"Yeah. Why not?" I looked over at her.

"I kind of thought maybe you could stay." She looked down. Something was really bothering her.

"Stay? As in . . . for dinner, or what?" I wasn't sure I liked the look on her face.

She sighed and looked up at the ceiling for a second. "Maybe I want you to stay the night with me."

I raised my eyebrows. "Stay the night?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You know, sleep over. I have a shower you can use and everything."

"Why do you want me to stay?" And why the fuck didn't I want to tell her to find someone else to get mushy with her?

She crossed her arms over her stomach and took a deep breath. "I . . . well, Jake. I think . . ." She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. "What I mean is that we've known each other a while now, and we've talked a lot. I've learned a lot about you and why you are that way, and I just think that maybe . . . No, I mean—"

I was a little worried about what she was going to say, but even more worried when I realized what I wanted her to say. "Just spit it out, Leah."

She met my eyes, and I had to force myself to keep my hands at my sides. I would not reach out and wipe her tears away. That was too . . . boyfriend-like. Too nice. But I still wanted to do it. I didn't like seeing Leah cry, especially if I was the one who caused it.

She huffed. "I think I'm falling in love with you."

I had two very different reactions at the same time. On one hand, I wanted to tell her we were through. No more fucking, and no more spending time together outside work. On the other hand, I wanted to kiss her and tell her I felt the same. It fucking scared me. I wasn't supposed to fall in love with Leah. She was a bitch, and I was an asshole. Then again, she was kind and knew how to be there for me in a way I never thought someone could. As much as I disliked other people, she had somehow managed to worm her way into my circle of people I trusted. I couldn't deny that it felt good to have her in my arms.

I raked my fingers through my hair and sighed. "Well, um . . . that's something I didn't expect to hear." I swallowed and looked her over. She looked so vulnerable standing there in her t-shirt and socks. I didn't want to do it, but I couldn't really stop myself either as I took a few steps forward and pushed her hair out of her face. "I guess I am, too."

She sniffled and wiped her nose with her forearm. "Please tell me you're not just saying that to make me feel better."

I raised my eyebrow. "You know me, Leah. Have I ever said anything just to make you feel better?"

She smiled. "No. So will you stay with me?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

She threw her arms around my neck. "Thank you. You know this doesn't mean anything has to change."

I kissed her. "Yeah, it does, Leah. If we both . . . like each other like that, we can't keep up what we've been doing and you know it. We've got to give this a shot." What was I saying? She gave me the perfect opportunity to keep all the relationship shit out of this. And yet, I knew that couldn't work. I wanted her, and at this point I'd probably get irritated if other guys tried to ask her out.

She nodded. "I think you're right."

"Of course I'm right. So what do you say? I stay tonight and take you out sometime next week?" What the fuck was wrong with me?

"Sure. Oh, God, Jake, what will our parents say?"

I chuckled. "My dad will probably say it's about damn time I put some kind of claim on you. Your dad will probably wonder where the ring is."

She pushed back and wiped her face. "Probably. I may date you, Jake, but I will not marry you."

"I don't see me on one knee, Leah."

"I could kick you." She looked like she was contemplating the idea. I took a step backward, and she laughed. "I'm just kidding. Are you tired?"

"Yeah, a little. You wore me out."

She smiled and took my hand to pull me back toward her bed. "The feeling's mutual."

I pulled back, and she turned to raise a questioning eyebrow at me. "I need to call my dad and check on him, then we can go to bed."

She nodded. "Okay. I'll wait for you."

I made the call quick so I wouldn't have to deal with my dad too much. He said he was fine and asked too many questions about where I was staying and why. I was as vague as I could be and hung up as fast as possible. Leah was smirking at me when I put the phone in my pocket and took my pants off again. We both got in her bed, and I wrapped my arm around her. It felt different, but right somehow. I kissed her head, and she snuggled into my chest.

"Goodnight, Jake."

"Night, Leah."

"It sounds strange, but I love you."

I chuckled. "Love you, too."

"Promise me we'll at least be friends. No matter what happens with this, I never want to lose that."

I touched her cheek, and she looked up at me. "You're too stubborn to lose that, Leah. And besides, I kinda like your bitchy perseverance. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be doing nearly as good with all this bipolar shit, and you know it."

She lifted herself enough to kiss me. "Thank you. And you're welcome."

"Go to sleep."

She laid back down and sighed deeply. "You, too."

"You first."

"Shut up, Jake."

"You shut up."

She laughed and hit my chest. "You're not in second grade anymore. Shut your mouth or I'll smack you around."

"Promises, promises. Goodnight, Leah."

She kissed my shoulder. "Goodnight."

* * *

><p>AN: Thank you for reading! The third part may take some time, but it'll get up eventually.

I'm on Twitter, SheeWolf85


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